A 36-year-old man was shot with his own gun during a violent and chaotic altercation on a crowded Brooklyn subway train Thursday night, leaving a 36-year-old man in critical condition in a New York hospital, police said.
The incident, which occurred on a northbound A train at 4:45 p.m., was the latest in a string of violent crimes on the city's subway system, prompting New York Gov. Cathy Hochul to deploy 750 National Guard troops, including 1,000 troops were dispatched. Strengthen transportation network security.
The video shows someone shouting “There's a baby on the train” and frightened passengers take cover.
Videos posted on social media show an unidentified 36-year-old man approaching a 32-year-old man on the train and entering into a verbal confrontation.
A scuffle broke out at the scene, and police say the 36-year-old man produced a knife or razor blade and threatened the other man.
As the tense scene unfolded, a video posted online shows a woman wearing a white mask intervene in a horse-drawn carriage while a 36-year-old man pins another man down in his seat. has been done. Blood was then clearly visible on her shirt, and the man turned to her and repeatedly said, “Did you stab me?”
At a news conference Friday morning, NYPD Traffic Director Michael Kemper said officers were aware of a video circulating that appeared to show the stabbing.
“It appears she was holding a sharp object and it appears she slashed the 36-year-old man with the sharp object,” he said. “We want to reassure everyone who is aware of this video.”
The video shows him then pulling a firearm from his jacket. Kemper said at a news conference Thursday night that the gunman walked toward the other man while yelling “menacingly.”
In a video posted online, the 32-year-old man can be seen in front of the woman verbally threatened by an armed man as passengers rush to the other side of the vehicle.
But at some point, the assailant lost control of the gun and was shot multiple times by the other man just as the train was entering Schermerhorn station, Kemper said Thursday.
A witness recorded video of a man on a stretcher being carried into an ambulance outside the station.
Kemper added that officers were already inside the station and arrived on scene within seconds. The 32-year-old man was being questioned by detectives last night.
“This is a terrible tragedy and deeply disturbing to the millions of New Yorkers who ride the subway every day,” New York City Councilman Lincoln Ressler, who represents the area, told X.
Jano Lieber, chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said at a press conference Friday that police deserve praise for their quick response.
“Traffic crimes make up 2% of crime in New York City, but they have a hugely disproportionate impact on people's sense of safety because they are in an environment where they can't easily get around,” he said.
Matthew Mulligan contributed.
